Chapter 3 I Found My Mate

"Sire any signs of your mate yet?"

Ihloi shouted above the sound of the wind rushing by as they traveled at the speed of light from place to place under the cover of invisibility gathering plants and animals of all kinds. Working as fast as they could they collected as many species, before the Earth was destroyed in the oncoming solar flare. It has been a week since the High king and his crew have landed on the water planet, not once taking a break as they all worked together in unison.

"No not yet, I am not sure who or what I am looking for. Every human I have run into hasn't sparked my interest. How will I know when I find her?"

"Oh you'll know" chuckled the High King's royal advisor. "You will be drawn to her like a magnet.It will feel like the world has stopped and only you two are in it. You will not be able to resist the gravitational pull toward her when you do find her, or at least this is what your father told me when he met your mother."

The King paused in mid flight, "did he really say that or are you messing with me again?"

"Oh I can assure you that I am not making it up this time. These were your father's exact words to me on the night of your parents mating ceremony. He could barely contain himself that night." Ihloi chuckled at the memory from so long ago.

"Sire I urge you to keep looking, this is your last chance to get a glance at the human race before they all get wiped out. You'll never have a second chance at finding a mate here. I just know you'll find her on this planet, I can feel it."

The King shook his head, he reversed his lightning rod and gently tapped the willow tree in front of him. In a brilliant flash of light the entire tree roots and all disappeared, being transported to one of the many ships in waiting all around the planet.

"Your Highness, you should leave the gathering to my team and I, take a break, this kind of work isn't meant for a King. You should be focused on finding your mate, we will be alright here without you. Your resources are in safe hands," Ihloi gave him the thumbs up sign.

"Alright we'll rest here. There is a clearing of trees that should provide cover for our ships. Let's collect the water from the Great Lakes tonight and I'll begin my search again tomorrow when the sun comes up." he shouted over the wind. Ihloi nodded.

They parked the ships just inside the grove of trees next to a little lake that the humans called Cedar Lake. Casting a spell they concealed the ships under an invisibility spell, hoping a human wouldn't come along and just so happen to bump into one of them. They flew across the road to the Great Lake of Michigan, where they worked around the clock gathering water. They ran every last drop through filters to separate the poison and toxins that the humans had dumped into their lakes. It wasn't until daybreak that the pair headed back to the ships with the now crystal clear water.

"Ihloi please have a bath prepared for me when we return to camp. I would like to get cleaned up before I begin my search," the High King huffed wiping the sweat from his brow. The temperature was ever increasing and his reptile like complexion could not handle the heat. He was cold blooded by nature.

"Yes, Sire, right away."

"How many gallons of water do you suppose we collected today..." Ihloi held up his hand interrupting him,

"hold up just a minute your Highness, do you smell that?" The High King turned his nose toward the air his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the wind.

"It's a human!" He exclaimed in surprise.

"Do you think it could be a male waiting to ambush us Sire?" He asked drawing his lighting rod and holding it out in front of him.

"I don't think so, the breathing is much to faint to be a males breath." Cloaking themselves with invisibility they descended into the tree line just in case they had been sighted. Their invisibility spell not only concealed their identity but it also concealed their sound as well. The only thing the invisibility spell couldn't conceal was their physical bodies, so if a stranger decided to walk into them the person would bump right into an invisible being. Using the trees as cover they followed the scent of the human downwind.

They crept through the trees weapons drawn and at the ready. Closing the gap they charged out of the trees weapons held high, they were about to launch their strike when the High King kicked on the breaks tossing his weapon to the side, "halt its a female!" the King shouted. Ihloi stopped dead in his tracks almost knocking into the King.

"Is anybody there?" They heard the female's voice ring forth through the clearing.

The High King's heart stopped beating. That soft and beautiful voice, had just called forth his very soul. His hands turned clammy as he tried to grip the lightning rod in his hand. He felt a giant tug on his heart pulling him toward the female's voice. His hands trembled violently.

"Your Highness, are you alright," Ihloi asked with concern staring at the Kings hands shaking.

"No," He hissed, "the moment I heard that females voice my body started acting strangely. I must get closer to that female." Without confirming with his Royal Advisor, he took off like a bullet toward the female.

"Your highness get back here! If there is a female around it could be a trap!" Ignoring his advisor he exited the clearing pinpointing a small figure leaning against a tree sitting just inside the shade.

"Your Highness get back here," he repeated, if there is a female here, then she could be surrounded by males. You could be walking right into a trap!"

Memories of all the horror stories he was told flooded back to him about how the American Government had managed to capture low ranking members of neighboring tribes and took them to a place they like to call Area 51, and tortured them for information. They would set traps to lure our kind in and ambush us, he thought to himself.

"Sire please get back here, we shouldn't be exposing ourselves like this," Ihloi hissed.

"Cover for me, I'll be fine, I'm a King, if males are nearby I'll be able to take them all out with a single blow," he said with a smirk. The High King descended upon the female hovering just above her, gazing upon her slumbering face. His entire world shattered before his eyes. He dropped to his knees in front of her, tears falling from his eyes. Ihloi came up behind him.

"Sire are you alright..." his sentence trailed off when he saw the King down on his knees shedding tears only for the second time in his entire life. Ihloi looked from the King to the female sleeping under the tree and back to the King again, finally putting two and two together.

"Ihloi, I think I just found my mate," he said turning his tear soak face toward his Royal Advisor with the most exultant look on his face. "She is so beautiful, every fiber of my being is screaming at me to protect her. The sound of her voice alone was like that of a clear crystal bell ringing, pulling me toward her. The moment I laid my eyes on her my entire reality shattered. I am no longer myself anymore. My one and only task in life is to guard and protect this human female."

Ihloi's jaw dropped, "you mean to tell me you just found your soulmate just like your parents?!!"

"She is not just my soulmate, she is the very blood that runs through my veins, she is the breath in my lungs, and the beating of my heart." He turned and was about to stroke the female's face, but Ihloi stopped him grabbing his wrist.

"You mustn't wake her, you could potentially frighten her." Ihloi sniffed the air around her. I don't think she has matured yet."

He was taken aback, jerking his hand away from his Advisor he leaned in to sniff the young female's neck, "Ihloi your right this female doesn't have the scent of her estrous cycle yet. She is still just a child! Quick, scout the entire surrounding area, if she is just a child then her family must be close by. No male would leave a child alone unattended, especially one who hasn't matured yet." The King scanned the tree line for any sign of another male's presence.

"Yes right away your Highness." Ihloi took off flying around the area scanning from above, while the King scanned the area from below. A few minutes later they met back up at the tree where the child slept.

"Sire there is no sign of another human for miles, the nearest house is about a mile north from here but there was no one there. Did you find any males in the trees?"

"No, not a single male is present. It's strange who would dare leave a child out here unprotected where a wild animal could attack? The poor thing she was left here all alone unattended. He approached the little one taking in every square inch of her face. She was so small, and delicate looking, he gently traced her lips and her cute adorable little nose.

Her cute little face scrunched up, before letting loose a sneeze right in his face. She let out a soft moan before turning her face away trembling in her sleep. Ihloi chuckled, pulling out a handkerchief and handing it to the King,

"she's going to be a lively one for sure." The King took the handkerchief and wiped his face frowning, he then reached out and touched the little female's forehead, her skin was hot!

"She must have come down with hay fever," he quickly sifted through his pockets and pulled out a tin, opening it he dipped two of his fingers in the cream and wiped his fingers across her forehead. "There this ought to make you better," he whispered smiling at the little one. The King sat back on his knees not wanting to take his eyes off her. Staring up and down he noticed something clutched in her tiny little hand.

He reached out and plucked it from her grasp, seeing a cord sticking out of the device he followed it up to her ears, he removed the cords from her ears wondering what she was listening to. He put the cords in his own ears and pushed a button on the device. A song called, "Too Young" by Sabrina Carpenter came on. He sat back listening to the words of the song. When the song ended his eyes widened, he glanced into the face of the female,

"why is it that you want to grow up so fast? Do you already have someone that you fancy? How can this be when you are still just a child? His heart ached just thinking about who could possibly have stolen his mates heart already. Jealousy instantly welled up inside him. I hope I am not too late in winning her affections, it would completely devastate me to learn that my soulmate has chosen to love someone else.

"Sire, I'm going to go gather some more water, were you going to stay here or come with me?"

"I'm going to stay here and watch over her, until I hear someone coming for her. I can't leave her here all alone, a wild animal might attack her while she is asleep and defenseless. Ihloi nodded, he stood up and left to gather more resources, leaving the King to guard over the little female child. The King came and sat down beside her also leaning his back against the tree, he sat there keeping watch over her while she slept, since everyone who was supposed to be responsible for her had neglected her. He casually flipped through the songs on her device, wanting to find out more about her, while Ihloi went to gather more water from the Great Lakes.

A couple hours later she slumped over, her head falling into his lap. He froze with his hands in the air, terror stricken that she would wake up and run away from him. But instead she licked her lips and continued to sleep. He didn't dare move a muscle. He even held his breath for fear that she would feel his chest movements under her.

"Ihloi where are you? I need your help, she's going to freak out when she wakes up." He hissed under his breath. The two of them stayed just like that for the entire day. He didn't want to wake her up seeing how exhausted she looked, so he just let her sleep as long as she wanted. He had noticed the dark circles under her eyes and wondered who had refused to let this child sleep. If she was with him in Kosea he would have sent her to bed straight away, it's a shame that our kind don't sleep like you humans, I would do anything to be able to sleep along side you. He gazed down at her figure resting in his lap.

Taking one of her curls he twisted and wrapped it around his finger. Her golden brown curls were so soft and smooth. The warmth from the sun cast golden rays of light that glinted off her curls warming them up, through the tree branches. He had never seen hair as beautiful as hers. He cast a spell summoning a handful of Forget Me Not baby blue flowers, he set them down and taking a handful of her curls in his hand he began to entwine the flowers in her hair. He worked diligently as the sun began to set.

The King listened to the sounds of the trees around him as he worked on her hair hearing his Royal Advisor approaching. A moment later Ihloi broke through the tree line next to him.

"Sire! Good heavens, has the female took to you already?" He asked seeing the female sleeping on the King's lap as he spun flowers through her hair. The King shook his head holding a finger to his lips.

"She doesn't know yet, I went to sit beside her and she fell over into my lap. I couldn't help myself," he whispered, pointing to the flowers in her hair smiling.

"I see," Ihloi chuckled. "You better move soon, it's getting dark, someone could come back looking for her soon." The King rushed to finish putting the flowers in her hair, when he was done Ihloi helped him gently lift her up so that the King could scoot out from under her.

"Wait before setting her back down," the King urged, walking away he gathered straw from the clearing and came back setting it on the ground under the tree. Ihloi set her down on the pile of straw as carefully as he could trying not to disturb her sleep.

"This ought to be a little more comfortable than sleeping on the hard ground," the King said dusting his hands together.

Casting the invisibility spell over them, they took off just inside the tree line staying close to the female. As the sun went down they waited for someone to come collect her but still no one showed up. The sun had almost disappeared over the horizon when they saw the female stirring. They glanced around the clearing and still no male or another female came for her. Was this young child abandoned? Did her mother get eaten by a wild animal? Were the males out hunting for food and were just late in returning?

They waited hidden in silence as the female sat up stretching and yawning. She glanced around fumbling around for something, she grabbed ahold of the device the King had left laying beside her and glanced at it for a moment, before she bolted upright shouting, "Oh no I over slept!"

The two of them watched as the child grabbed her things and ran as fast as she could the long mile up the road. They followed silently above her anger building in their chests. How could a mere child be aloud to walk an entire mile by herself unprotected, unattended and, all alone, in complete darkness? This was completely unheard of back in Kosea. Females never walked anywhere alone back home. They were always carried by a male so that they wouldn't tire out so easily and or fall and get hurt.

Yet this female had the strength to be able to walk not one mile but two in the same day all by herself? A male would have been served a death sentence if they allowed a female to walk this distance by themselves. Females were cherished and well protected in Kosea due to the huge decline in female births in their tribe. So females were spoiled beyond measure to try to encourage the mating process. But just what has this poor female child been through, they thought together in unison?

I don't know how long I slept for but I didn't want to wake up. I have never slept so long and peacefully in all my life. I was comfortable for once and it felt like all of my worries in life had melted away today. I felt like an angel or a guardian was watching over me as I slept soundly by the lake. But the longer I slept the harder my dreams came crashing down knowing that my family was going to come home and probably dump a lot of chores on me, I groaned, stretching and yawning, why was it so dark?

I fumbled around for my cousin's iPod and staring at the screen I jolted awake, "oh no I over slept," I shouted to myself. My family was going to be home any minute and I still have to walk Fifi, again and prepare dinner before they find out I was gone. I stood up grabbed my book and the iPod and set out at a brisk pace walking the mile long hike back to my house.

I quickly dashed into the house and grabbed Fifi, and took her for a walk, once finished I ran to the kitchen and searched the fridge for something to make for dinner. I settled on steaks, and a salad for dinner since they would be the easiest and fastest to make before my family returned. I fired up the stove and tossed the steaks in a pan, Just as I was grabbing the ingredients to make a another salad my family pulled into the driveway.

"Crap, I muttered under my breath, dinner isn't ready yet. My Uncle was the first through the front door, he came lumbering in the kitchen exhausted from the all day ladies shopping trip my Aunt and cousin dragged him on. "Is dinner ready yet? I'm starving," my Uncle asked coming up behind me.

"It's almost ready, the steaks have a couple more minutes left," I trembled under my Uncle's glare.

"I thought I told you to have dinner ready before we got home? Why are you always slacking off? Were you too busy outside picking flowers, to even bother having dinner ready on time," my Uncle barked furiously.

"No, I was busy taking Fifi for a walk and I did my chores and went through the box of clothes in the hallway like you told me too."

"Don't lie to me!" my Uncle screamed. He yanked my hair pulling my neck back, I cried out in pain. "You were too damn busy putting flowers in your hair you useless good for nothing child!" He said tossing a handful of flowers in my face. Confused tears streamed down my face, I had no idea how the flowers got in my hair.

"I would beat you right now but that would defeat the purpose of you having dinner ready. Hurry up and finish! Just for lying to me you can go to bed without supper tonight you useless brat."

My stomach growled in protest. I hadn't eaten all day and now I wasn't going to get any dinner tonight. Could this night get any worse? I quickly finished the steaks and tossed them on a plate and sat them on the table, I turned and tried to escape upstairs before I was bombarded with more demands. I rounded the corner just as my Aunt and cousin came inside arms loaded with shopping bags.

"Umm where do you think your going? You need to wash and dry all of these clothes so that they are clean for school tomorrow," Sarah barked dumping at least ten shopping bags into my arms. Leave them by my door and I'll fetch them in the morning. Don't forget to fold them nicely. I can't have them looking all wrinkly!"

"When your done with that don't forget to do the dishes!" My Uncle hollered from the kitchen. Sarah walked into the kitchen there was a moment of silence before she let out a scream.

Crap I forgot to put the iPod back in Sarah's room! Sarah came charging out of the kitchen "I thought I told you not to touch my iPod you little thief!"

My arms still loaded with bags, i watched as Sarah raised her hand, I couldn't defend myself, Sarah hauled off and smacked me across my face. Tears welling up in my eyes my cheek smarting, I dropped the bags I was holding clothes falling out everywhere, as I held onto my cheek.

"Pick them up you dirty little rat! You'll stain my new clothes and ruin them!!! She kicked my shin in anger. Stumbling from the pain in my cheek I bent over and scooped the clothes up and ran upstairs. I quickly cut the tags off and tossed them in the washer. I just wanted to go to my room and hide until they went to bed.

"That good for nothing brat, we should have just tossed her out a long time ago, she is so lazy always slacking off, and taking Sarah's things. She is so ungrateful."

I heard my Aunt muttering from downstairs through the floor. I ran to my room and slammed the door, leaning my back against my door I slid to the floor hugging my knees to my chest and buried my face in my knees. I wanted to run away, but I had no money, and nowhere to go. I wish I would have died in that car accident along with my parents. Maybe then I wouldn't have had to suffer like this my whole life.

I rocked myself trembling and crying my stomach growling from the lack of dinner. An hour later I heard bedroom doors closing signaling that everyone had gone to bed. Opening my door I changed the load of laundry over to the dryer and headed downstairs to do the dishes. When I flipped the kitchen light on I saw a note on the fridge.

"Don't forget to pack Sarah's school supplies in her backpack. I left you Sarah's old backpack and school supplies on the couch for you," signed Aunt Marge. I sighed frustrated, locating the bag of school supplies I opened everything and packed it all neatly into Sarah's brand new backpack. I grabbed Sarah's old backpack and supplies and packed them up for me and carried it to my room. I tossed the bag in the corner of my room and walked over to my mirror, glancing at myself.

I saw that I had a huge bruise forming on my cheek. I was going to look so ugly tomorrow. I sighed, looking up I finally noticed the flowers my Uncle had tossed at me. There were hundreds of blue Forget me Nots intricately entwined in my hair. How did these get here," I muttered to myself. Then I remembered I had fallen asleep by the lake.

Did someone put these in my hair? I yanked the flowers out of my hair, trembling. Who was watching me while I was asleep, and they even touched me while putting flowers in my hair? I was officially creeped out. I tossed the flowers in my trash can too tired to think about the mystery person. I went to lay down while waiting for the dryer to get done. Even though I had slept all day, I was completely worn out again from my family barking orders, and getting slapped in the face and kicked in my shin.

I laid there facing the wall, tears welling up again. I cried tears staining my pillow. My stomach growled again, I clutched my stomach doubling over from hunger. I wanted to sneak downstairs and make something but my Uncle would notice if food went missing. He would just beat me again if I even tried. So I just laid there trying to ignore my hunger pains.

Hearing the dryer buzz after awhile I rolled over out of bed groaning, at least this was my last chore before bed. Looking over at my clock it was already past three in the morning. I was going to be so tired come morning. Tiptoeing in the hallway so as not to wake my family I grabbed the clothes out of the dryer and headed back to my room to fold the laundry. Upon my return I inhaled a mouthwatering scent. Why did it smell like steak in my room?

Glancing around I found the source, there was a nice big juicy steak sitting on my desk. Shocked I dropped the basket of clothes on my bed and went over to my desk. There beside the steak was a note, I picked up the note and opened it. I frowned, looking at the foreign letters, I couldn't read the note, it wasn't written in English. I stared at the beautiful writing on the note brows furrowing. How in the world did this steak get here?

I touched the plate fear creeping inside. The plate was made completely out of gold! This was not our dish from downstairs. Where did it come from? Scared I walked over to my window, I pulled up on it but it was locked, I was getting weirded out by the second, how did a steak show up in my room and my window was locked and my family were all sleeping and all I have is a note written in a language I couldn't read! Then I remembered the flowers.

I rushed over to my trash can and dug the flowers out and sat them on my desk. This was the second bizarre incident that has happened to me today. The first was flowers in my hair while I was sleeping and now a steak showing up in my bedroom when I was hungry, but the windows were locked. Was I going crazy? Or was there a psychopath watching me from somewhere?

Was there someone out to kill me or worse kidnap me? I have heard horror stories on TV about how rapists lure kids in with candy and drag them into vans and take them. I shuddered at the thought, of how someone had gotten close enough to me to be able to put flowers in my hair and now they somehow got into my bedroom through a locked window! I grabbed the flowers and the note and tossed them into my trash can. I picked up the plate and was about ready to toss it in as well, but I hesitated, the smell of the steak was so alluring.

My stomach growled again, while I fought with myself internally, was the steak poisoned or drugged? Should I chance it and waste a perfectly good steak? My mouth watered as I stared at the steak, ugh I'm going to regret this I muttered setting the plate back down on my desk.

I was so hungry I couldn't resist. I picked up the steak and tore into it losing all self control. If I die tomorrow at least I'll die with a full stomach. I couldn't help but wonder who this mysterious person was, why did they put flowers in my hair and why did they leave me a steak? Did they somehow know I went to bed without supper? Did they feel sorry for me? I wonder what the note says? Many questions ran through my mind as I finished my steak, even licking my fingers clean.

I even picked up the plate and licked all the juices, not wanting to waste a single drop. After I was finished I waited up for thirty minutes folding laundry waiting to see if the steak was poisoned, but so far nothing happened. Shrugging my shoulders I laid out my outfit for tomorrow and closed my blinds double checking that my window was still locked before I tucked myself in bed and passed out with exhaustion.